Education

Like a lot of employers, MRG Tool and Die in Faribault receives applications from job-seekers every week. The manufacturer needs workers, so this should be a good thing — yet usually it isn’t. Most of the applicants lack even the basic entry-level technical skills the company expects. “We are not getting applicants that have the skills and knowledge we would like,” says director of operations Rod Gramse. More

Euretta Sorenson has been at the New River Medical Center in Monticello for the past 11 years and has been a nurse for nearly 40 — she’s about as experienced as they come. But when the center’s chief nursing officer quit and Sorenson was asked fill the role, she felt the need to hone her leadership skills. “It was thrust upon me quickly,” she recalls. More

There’s an old saying: “Bad news sells.” Perhaps it explains why media outlets continually barrage us with personal finance sagas. Whether it’s stories on mortgage foreclosure, credit card abuse or even bankruptcy, there’s no lack of time devoted to financial woe in America. And while one can’t discount the harmful effects of a sluggish economy, high energy and health care costs, etc., it’s also clear Americans aren’t particularly skillful at saving and investing. More